North Yorkshire residents are being urged to respond to a major Government survey after a recent mail-out reaped disappointing results.

North Yorkshire County Council has been carrying out a postal survey on behalf of the Government, asking for people's views on council services and what people think of their local area as a place to live.

In all, around 22,000 randomly selected households across North Yorkshire will have received the questionnaire.

All councils across the country are taking part in similar surveys.

County Councillor John Weighell, Leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said: "Residents' views are extremely important to your local authorities and help them to focus resources on the things that really matter to local people.

"We urge everyone who receives a questionnaire about North Yorkshire County Council to take this opportunity to tell us what you think by filling it in and returning it to us.

"Your views will help us, and the other North Yorkshire councils, to identify what matters to you and how we might improve services for the 580,000 people living in the county of North Yorkshire."

The deadline for returning your survey is November and the Government will publish the results for the whole country next spring.